It is generally known to provide hand-held garden shears, wire snips, pliers, and various other cutting instruments having a spring mechanism for urging the handles in the "open" position, thereby exposing the jaws or cutters. To reduce the likelihood of inadvertent cutting or injury, a locking mechanism is often provided for maintaining the cutter in the closed position when the device is not in use.
Presently, hand held cutters are locked in the closed position by, for example, a pivoting member secured to one of the cutting jaws which may be pivoted into abutting relationship with the opposing jaw. Other devices employ a pivoting ratchet mechanism which can be moved from a locked to an unlocked position by the user's thumb. Presently available devices require the use of both of the operators hands to manipulate the locking mechanism, or, alternatively, require use of the operator's thumb, which can be awkward and inconvenient.